La Boca, the Buenos Aires’ neighborhood famed for its colorful houses, its tango and its soccer team, is the one spot that makes every visitor’s agenda.

The centerpiece is the cobblestone strip, El Caminito, or little walkway. The one-time railway route is lined with the bright facades that make La Boca postcard perfect.

Named for a 1926 tango song, the pedestrian lane features an outdoor fair where artists sell their wares and tango dancers prance along the sidewalk in between photo ops with tourists.

But there’s much more to La Boca than what meets the casual tourist’s eye. Like New York City’s Lower East Side and London’s East End, La Boca was the neighborhood where new immigrants first established themselves when they arrived in Buenos Aires.

The neighborhood may derive its name from its location at ‘La Boca’ (the mouth) of the Riochuelo, as the Mantanza River is usually called.

The port-side barrio is an obvious point for boats to come ashore and historians say the Spanish first landed in La Boca as early as 1536.

During their early colonial expansion the colonizers housed African slaves in this area. After Argentina gained independence many of the freed stayed. With the arrival of the industrial revolution La Boca grew into a gritty shipyard area with meat curing plants and tanneries.

Xeneizes, Tango and Lunfardo

Mass settlement in La Boca began in 1830, with an influx of immigrants from Genoa, Italy. Coming from a port city, it was natural for the Genoese to settle along the Buenos Aires waterfront. There were so many Genoese in La Boca at that time that some say the name is a spin-off of the name Boccadasse, a neighborhood in Genoa.

The new arrivals constructed tenements made of scrap metal and painted the shacks with bright leftover marine paint to liven up the one-time wasteland.

Soon the Italians were joined by immigrants from Spain, France, England, Ireland, Eastern Europe and Greece and among others. The cross-cultural mix gave birth to tango, although the term wouldn’t be coined until the end of the 1890’s. Factory and port workers would gather to dance in the central halls of the tenements and vie to grab the attention of the few women available at the time.

La Boca also played a fundamental part in the creation of the Argentine slang, lunfardo. The vocabulary grew out of cocoliche, a mix of Italian dialects that immigrants used to communicate with each other. Even the barrio’s famous soccer team, La Boca Juniors are also called Los Xeneizes, derived from the word for ‘Genoese’ in the Italian dialect.

By the turn of the 19th century the area was the second most populated zone in Buenos Aires but the construction of a new port in Puerto Madero meant the shipping industry would move northward. As Argentina entered its golden era, residents moved further inland and La Boca began to decline.

La Boca’s Revival

A revival of El Caminito and La Boca in the 1950’s was led by artist, Quinquela Martín. The famed La Boca orphan was abandoned at birth, adopted and spent a good portion of his childhood in La Boca. After studying drawing at a La Boca night school, he ended up becoming one of Argentina’s most famous painters and a major neighborhood philanthropist.

After the General Roca railway train line, which ran through here shut down in 1954, Martín set to work to save the barrio. He gathered neighbors to paint the houses bright colors, emulating the early immigrants. The artists began to host outdoor theater here utilizing the colorful houses as part of the backdrop.

At the urging of Martín, in 1959 the city government officially declared the street El Caminito an open-air museum. It’s named in honor of Martín’s friend, Juan de Dios Filibrito, a former La Boca resident who co-authored the tango tune of the same name.

Safety in La Boca

As in most places where a popular tourist attraction sits in the middle of an economically disadvantaged neighborhood, La Boca can be dangerous for visitors who stray off the tourist path.

Most just see El Caminito, its the few surrounding streets and La Bombonera the stadium where Diego Maradona became ‘God’ for his fans.

For brave low-profile travelers who want to explore more of the neighborhood, there are many interesting sites here, just don’t carry anything you can’t afford to lose.

La Cantina Francesa is a buffet-style eatery in Microcentro which manages to serve up fast and easy lunches without compromising on quality. Many restaurants, bars and cafes downtown struggle to find the right balance between serving up decent food, and getting it out quickly for busy office types and travelers on the go.

Enter La Cantina Francesa, which proves to be a great alternative to empanada takeout joints and fast food options downtown. It’s something akin to a high school lunch canteen, only with gourmet French and Italian themed food.

After picking up a plastic tray and moving through the line you are presented with a fragrant, steaming array of pastas, risottos, stir fries, meat and fish dishes. Instead of hamburger patties and macaroni and cheese, there’s boeuf bourguignon and spinach gnocchi with cherry tomatoes and a creamy sauce. Plates vary from day to day, but there is always a selection of pastas and salads as well as meat, chicken and fish options.

Owner Phillipe Partouche, who looks so typically French that he would just have to slap on a beret and carry around a baguette to complete the effect, says, “The main difference between us and typical Argentine restaurants is that here you can be in and out in 15 minutes.

“We’re a bit like one of those all-you-can eat places with the buffet, only you pay separately for each dish. I also think the food is of a high standard.”

He’s right, the food is very good, and servings are abundant. It may not be all-you-can-eat, but it is still economical. Dishes are around the AR$15-$20 mark, and with dessert and a drink you will still get change from AR$30. Some plates, like the lasagna, require heating up in the microwave, which means it’s up to the customer to make sure it’s properly warmed, which may prove problematic for some. As it’s a buffet, your best bet is to arrive early, beat the crowd and get first pickings of the food. Like most places downtown, La Cantina Francesa is pretty deserted at 12pm, but packed by 1:30.

They also offer delivery, with sandwiches, pastas, salads and vegetarian meals on the menu.

I came when I was traveling around South America around five years ago. I wanted to see Chile. I passed through the dessert and was in Chiloe and I had an Italian friend living here. I was tired of traveling, so I came to visit and stayed here a while and I started dancing tango, I liked it. I met a guy and then I ended up pregnant, which was the last thing I was expecting at 40 years old, so I decided I’ll stay here for a while. We lived together for two years and now I’m already single again! • And how did you end up operating this store?

My son started school and I got to know Leandro who owns this property and I had wanted to set up a place like this. He had other projects going, so I took over the store beginning in March.

• Did you rename the store or change anything since you’ve taken over the business?

Previously the store was called ‘Arte Natural’ but I just added an ‘e’ at the end, so now it’s called ‘Arte Naturale,’ which is how you would write it in Italian, so I just made a little biddy change.

• Where did you live in Italy, had you ever lived in a big city?

I’m from a small town called Fasano (BR) but I lived in Milán a few years before. I didn’t like it too much. There’s no sun there and the people are a bit aloof and stressed out. To see a friend you have to make an appointment like a month in advance.

So Buenos Aires is the biggest city I’ve lived in but I like San Telmo because it’s like a little pueblo. You see your neighbors, you can go to the butcher shop and they know you. The people are warm around here. I like the south side of the city, I suppose since I’m a girl from the south myself. Actually, from seeing Buenos Aires on the map, I had thought that it would have the sea nearby but then I got here and realized the beach is like 200 kilometers away!

• How is business going here?

It’s pretty good, people seem to like the store. There’s no place else to get all these natural products in San Telmo. There are places that may only have imported products, which are very expensive, or those who only have national products but I try to have a wide array of brands here.

• Who are the customers here?

Mostly people from the neighborhood and there’s some foreigners and kids from the university nearby. And on Sundays it’s a free for all – we get people from everywhere, especially a lot of Brazilians.

• Where does your son go to school?

He goes to the private kindergarten. This is one complaint I do have, that there was no space available in the public school, so I have to send him to a private kindergarten that costs AR$300 per month, and that’s with a city government subsidy. Some people pay AR2,000 per month.

I always say that everything in Buenos Aires is like a copy of Italy. It’s similar, but not exactly quite right. The dough of the pizza is definitely different and in Italy we don’t put olives on the pizza, that changes the flavor. The fresh pasta is very good though and you can find all the products you need to make Italian food such as olive oil, so the general idea is there.

The coffee is weak for an Italian. We like coffee that will give you a heart attack. But the coffee here is good quality. They use sugar to roast it, which we don’t do so I go to a little place here to buy the good stuff and make it at home. In the end it goes further, so it’s worth it.

• What’s the best Italian restaurant you’ve found in Buenos Aires?

Well, I don’t go specifically looking for Italian food, but Filo I liked — it has a good variety.

I’ve started eating meat as well. I was a vegetarian for many years and I got malaria after living in Guinea, Africa and started eating meat again for the iron. I don’t love it, I’m more of a fish person but I’ll eat it a couple of times a week. It is Argentina and it’s the best in the world, so I’m pretty adaptable.

That’s true. For instance the vocabulary of lunfardo sounds to me like the dialect of my village. There are a lot of words that are the same, such as ‘mina’ (mine/female). The way they say ‘toalla’ (towel) is the same. They talk with their hands a lot and the way they complain is a lot like southern Italians. They have all the customs of Italians. But the thing about the partying, going out and getting drunk comes from the Spanish — Italians are a bit more serious.

If you have been to visit the dead at Recoleta Cemetery, you will probably have been beckoned, cajoled or dragged into one of the many overpriced eateries that skirt its perimeter. This need not be the case.

A short walk west you will find Celetto, a charming and understated Argentine ristorantino with more charm in their coffee biscuits than the tourist traps can manage in a meal. In addition to this four-year-old branch, there are a further three locations dotted throughout the state and two parillas that focus mainly on food from the grill.

Instead of the standard stale bread roll hand grenades offered in other restaurants, each diner here is greeted with a mango bellini and some dainty canapés to kick things off. The mood here is reassuringly intimate with rustic ‘Italian villa’ décor. The burgundy walls are lined with wine bottles, mirrors and understated pieces of art and the ambiance of the candle-lit tables combines with the soft background music ensuring a romantic atmosphere cloaks the dining room.

Whispering silver haired couples make up the majority of the clientele, although the hush will occasionally be broken by the cackling laughter of ladies swapping stories over dessert and a drawn out round of espressos. On Saturday evenings it’s advisable to book ahead as diners will be treated to a crooning by the Frank Sinatra impersonator, as velvet smooth as the house Malbec. The service at Celetto tends to be attentive – the waiters here give the impression that they have been recommending wine since the beginning of time.

The menu offers much appreciated diversity and a Tuscan twist on the regular staples of Argentinean cuisine. Starters include breaded prawns, smoked salmon, papas bravas and bruschetta, which range from $16 to around $40 pesos. Half a dozen different salads, including the recommended honey and Dijon mustard chicken, are on offer between $31 and $47 pesos. A refreshing change are the ingredients— Brie, smoked salmon, prawns and walnuts, instead of the instead of the typically plain tomatoes, cucumber and onions.

Main course options include pink salmon with Caesar salad and potatoes (AR$50), chicken salad with white wine and garlic oil dressing ($40), and pumpkin pudding with steamed vegetables, mushrooms and soy sauce dressing ($33). There is a good selection of nine different pasta dishes for around $40 pesos including ravioli with ricotta and mushrooms and gnocchi with lamb sauce. A memorable seafood dish can be hard to come by in this Buenos Aires, but the tagliatelle mar e monti, prawn and mushroom tagliatelle is an outstanding highlight.

Meat eaters are well-catered for too with rib eye, tenderloin, skirt steak, chuck and pork medallions with barbecue sauce available between AR$38-$49 and all served with side salad and chunky french fries.

Among the dessert choices are sweet crepes, meringue, mousse, elaborate ice cream sundaes and alfajors, sweet Argentine biscuits welded together with jam or caramel. A popular option is the AR$35 four-piece taster: berry crumble and raspberry ice cream, panna cotta, double chocolate mouse and ‘sweet caramel delight,’ beautifully presented and offering enough flavors to last a week. The good news is that the portions are large enough to be comfortably shared, albeit through gritted teeth.

Buenos Aires is one of the world’s great pizza capitals, at least in the sheer number of pizzerias.

You can’t walk a city block without passing a pizza joint, or at least an eatery that serves pizza among other things (those ‘other things’ usually consisting of empanadas, breaded patties called milanesas, and pastas).

Authenticity separates a really good pizza joint from the rest. The best pizza should be served in the simple style of the Italian peninsular — a thin, wood-fire cooked base, adorned with extra virgin olive oil and a rich tomato sauce is the starting point.

From there it is simply a matter of adding a couple of high quality, fresh ingredients to make the perfect pizza pie.

No overloading of cheese, not too many toppings, flavored with a little garlic, basil or oregano – simple and delicious.

Argentine-Style: Pizza, Fainá & Moscato

Standard Argentine pizza has a thicker crust than traditional Italian style pizza and includes more cheese. Visitors who don’t like the pizza in Buenos Aires (and there are quite a few) complain about the thick dough, originally meant to fed hungry immigrants and the cheesiness or the quality of the cheese, which can vary widely between establishments.

The old standby is the classic mozzarella, always topped with at least one olive. Other popular pies are the Neapolitan (with tomatoes and garlic) and the Calabrese, protagonized by chorizo (course meat sausage).

One Buenos Aires’ original pie that is sure to bring out one’s inner Diego Maradona is the fugazetta, which includes gooey cheese inside the crust and a generous slathering of caramelized onions and sometimes ham.

The downtown pizzeria, Banchero proclaims itself the originator of the fugazza spin-off.

Around Buenos Aires, Genovese style pizza, particularly fugazetta, is often accompanied by fainá, a flatbread made with chickpea flour, water, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Known as farinata in Italy, fainá is designed to be doubled up with the pizza for ‘pizza a caballo,‘ or piggyback pizza.

Argentina’s tiny population of vegetarians love fainá because it’s a healthy way to get some protein with your meal and is yummy enough to eat plain.

Another common accompaniment to pizza in very traditional Buenos Aires pizzerias is moscato,(muscat) a sweet wine. An Argentine classic with which you can’t go wrong is the universal combination, honored in song, ‘moscato-pizza-y-fainá‘.

Best Pizza Places in Buenos Aires

Opinions on pizza in Argentina run the gamut. Try traditional Argentine-style pizza at long-running Buenos Aires’ pizzerias downtown such as Güerrín, El Cuartito, El Palacio de la Pizza, the aforementioned Banchero. For a cheap slice in San Telmo while visiting the San Telmo Fair try the standing-room only Pirillo on Defensa Street.

For a new twist on the old, Güerrin recently added vegan pizza to their menu, after protesters descended on the pizza joint on World Vegan Day.

Vegans will also be interested to know that there is also a small Buenos Aires chain called Pizza Vegan, that makes their pizza dough with potatoes.

The true pizza connoisseur will want a traditional Neapolitan style-pie which can be found at Siamo nel Forno, a favorite with the fashionable Palermo crowd.

Less traditional, but also popular for their pies are Pizza Piola in Recoleta, and the wood fire pizzas at the obnoxiously decorated Filo.

The big winner on the Buenos Aires pizza scene lately is San Paolo Pizzería, which was voted one of the world’s top pizza joints by ‘Italian experts’ this year.

San Paolo Pizzería serves up traditional thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza that is a bit on the pricey side. They also have a good hard-to-find-in-Buenos-Aires fried calamari appetizer.

Those craving New York style pizza-by-the-slice, with toppings such as pepperoni and portabella mushrooms should head to Hell’s Pizza to try the ‘Obama,’ ‘Jackie Kennedy,’ or the spicy jalapeño-topped ‘Hell’s’ pizza.

Hell’s Pizza also has gluten-free and vegan pizza.

Another good option for North American-style pizza is the descriptively-named New York Style Pizza in Palermo Hollywood.

Those staying in Belgrano have three good options: Pizzaria La Fina, Teglia in the Belgrano R sector, or Pony Pizza in Belgrano C.

Those traveling with a a family or a group may want a range of different pizzas, in which case Los Maestros is a good bet, with three northside locations and over 50 varieties of pizza.

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